TASK 1: Country Factfile


Capital: Tokyo

Total area: 377,915 sq km

Population: 126,475,664

Languages: Japanese


external image jp.gif

Task 2: Location and climate

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Task 3 Economic Production


  • What is the GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)?
$4.31 trillion (2010 est.)

  • How does this compare with the rest of the world?
there are 3 countries richer than japan.

  • What is the GDP per Capita ?
$34,000 (2010 est.)

  • How does this compare with the rest of the world?
Japan ranks 38th

  • What is the unemployment rate?
5% (2010 est.)

  • What is the percentage of People below the poverty line?
15.7% (2007)

  • What are this country's main agricultural products?
rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish

  • What are this country's main industries?
    motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods

  • Export partners?
China 19.4%, US 15.7%, South Korea 8.1%, Hong Kong 5.5%, Thailand 4.4% (2010)

  • Imports partners?
    China 22.1%, US 9.9%, Australia 6.5%, Saudi Arabia 5.2%, UAE 4.2%, South Korea 4.1%, Indonesia 4.1% (2010)

Task 4 Population,size,shape and life expectancy


What is the total population of this country? 127,59,000
What is the average life expectancy? 83
How many children is a woman expected to have in this country? 1.4
total: 2.78 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 218
male: 2.98 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 2.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)

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Task 5 What is it like to live there


NEWS EVENTS - One of the big news in Japan is about the Tsunami steps saved Tokai from meltdown and another one is about Low level radiation detected in Fukushima students


Here is an extract from the new website, http://www.japantimes.co.jp
Japan Atomic Power concluded in 2002 that to prepare the plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, for potential tsunami, waves as high as 4.86 meters should be expected based on the evaluation technology used by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, it said.
But the Ibaraki Prefectural Government requested that the utility re-evaluate the estimate after its own tsunami projection, made public in October 2007, showed waves in nearby areas could reach 7 meters, the company said.
Japan Atomic Power then changed its wave level assumption to 5.7 meters and started work to extend the Tokai plant's 4.9-meter sea wall to 6.1 meters in July 2009 to protect the seawater pumps that cool the emergency diesel generator.
The work had almost been finished by September 2010, but other work to fully cover the cable holes in the wall was scheduled to be done around May this year, the company said.
The tsunami that hit the Tokai plant on March 11 were 5.3 to 5.4 meters in height, exceeding the company's earlier estimate but coming in around 30 to 40 cm lower than its revised projection.
After the tsunami hit, the Tokai plant lost external power just like Fukushima No. 1 did, because the sea wall was overrun, knocking out one of its three seawater pumps.
see full article, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111025a1.html

According to the article "Low level radiation detected in Fukushima students" The hospital reported that half of the elementary and junior high school students in Minami Soma who had their radiation checks since September were found with low levels of radioactive cesium 137. After the nuclear power plant accident the hospital is uncertain whether the students inhaled airborne radiation or ingested it.

TERRORISM AND SAFETY - According to globalincidentmap.com Japan is free from terrorism and has no data present to suggest that Japan has a terrorist threat. The U.S government recommends traveling to or residing in the area around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. So i guess Japan is a safe place to travel.

Task 6: Environmental Issues

What is EPI score given to your country? 72.5 out of 100.
How does this compare with other countries? Rank: 20
What environmental issues are the biggest concern for your country? Air pollution, where the Ecosystem ozone pollution is at 9.34174 out of 100.
Another major problem is the earthquake that hit there, along with the nuclear power plants that leaked radiation and nuclear power.

Title of Article: Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Crisis
Publication: The New York Times, World
Author: Unknown
Date Published: August 29th, 2011
URL: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/japan/index.html
Summary of this article:

On March 11, 2011, a major 9.0 earthquake hit Japan, which then reacted a devastating tsunami which went through cities and farms in the northern part of Japan, and set off alarms all the way to the west coast of the U.S. and South America. People evacuated and three nuclear power plants had melt downs which released radiation gases into the air. By July dead and missing count was raised to over 22,000. Still many people were living in temporary houses or had evacuated because of the radiation. After this whole crisis, Mr. Naoto Kan, who was the prime minister during this disaster, resigned in august. He was replaced by Mr. Yoshihiko Noda. Even though Kan had said that Japan should end its dependence on nuclear power, Noda disagrees because nuclear power prevents electrical shortages.

TASK 7 Education


What percentage of the GDP is spent on education? 3.5 %
How does this compare with the rest of the world? Compared to the rest of the world japan is 5th place

What percentage of the population is literate? 99%
Is there a major difference in rates of literacy between male and female? no

How many years is a person expected to attend school? 15 years
Is there a difference between males and females? no

Nation Master Extension:


  1. Compared to Thailand


Class size (13 year old) :
  • Japan: 35.5 students ( Ranked first. 495 more than Thailand)
  • Thailand: 28.8 students ( Ranked 5th)

Duration of education ( Secondary level):
  • Japan: 6 ( Ranked 74th)
  • Thailand: 6 ( Ranked 82nd )

Geographical aptitude results:
  • Japan: 68.112 ( Ranked 112st)
  • Thailand: 76.61 ( Ranked 40th. 12% more than Japan)

Task 8 gender quality

No data for Japan


The Global Gender Gap


Overall Score:0.6524
Economic Participation and Opportunity:0.5718
Educational Attainment:0.9860
Health and Survival:0.9796
Political Empowerment:0.0722

Maternal Mortality Rates:
6 deaths/100,000 live births (2008)
Country comparison to the world: 161

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